Food safety

San Diego restaurateurs acknowledge they'll be facing large financial losses after having to close for dinner Thursday evening following the prolonged power outage.

Losses, they said, could mount as they decide to discard costly meats, cheeses and dairy products that cannot last indefinitely without refrigeration.

"We closed all our restaurants for a number of reasons, one being, we wanted to do it while it was light out so our staff could get home safely," said Lesley Cohn, whose Cohn Restaurant Group operates nearly a dozen eateries in the county. "The unfortunate thing about this is you can’t even donate the food. We’ll just have to start fresh when we open again."

Restaurateur Matt Gordon, who operates dining spots in North Park and Encinitas, expressed his frustration on Twitter, lamenting, "Nothing like being open for 3 weeks and having to throw away thousands in inventory."

While insurance may cover the loss of food and business, Gordon said it may be a while before he recoups his losses. He recently opened his long-planned Solace and the Moonlight Lounge in Encinitas.

"We're probably out about $9,000 in food," he estimated. "I also had a buyout party in North Park in our outdoor area, which is a pretty good chunk of change. This is not a good time to lose that kind of revenue."

Some restaurants, however, were more fortunate than others when Specialty Produce, a major San Diego wholesale distributor, came to the rescue and helped store huge quantities of food in their generator-powered refrigeration units.

Among the restaurants getting some much-needed help were George's at the Cove, Cucina Urbana, Kitchen 1540 and Pamplemousse, said Specialty Produce owner Bob Harrington. His company also made plenty of dry ice available for his restaurant customers.

"I got a text today from Bob, which said, "Let me know if I need to send a truck,'" said Tracy Borkum, owner of Cucina Urbana and Kensington Grill, which never opened on Thursday because of the outage. "They’re picking up whatever we need and it’s gone on a truck to Specialty Produce. He is an angel."

Borkum estimates a loss of $20,000 in business from Thursday evening alone.

"It’s incredibly frustrating," Borkum said, "and causes panic but then you realize you’re in it with everyone else."